Norway maple out, blue spruce in, and a confused squirrel. Not a pretty picture (yet!) but I thought it was kind of funny. I'll try to find some winterberries to plant near the spruce this fall. Not sure what to do with the stump; probably just cut it flat to the ground.
Glad you got that squirrel in for scale. I would have liked to see him run for the tree, get up the stub and do a backflip off the top. You can have my Jim Dandy winterberry- I have only that lonely guy and no gals, and no room for them anyway- what was I thinking?
That Tropicanna gold stayed green all winter in a box in my basement- refused to go dormant!
If I lived down that way I wouldn't dig up cannas. Some people get away with it here - my problem will be remembering to plant it again. I might just be able to take you up on that Jim Dandy offer - I'm visiting that area around Halloween.
Crocuses at my bro's house
My wildflower garden is still going strong.
Late blooming zinnia.
New zinnia colors just keep popping up.
mums
sure claypa!
jen you got the color going ON! I have zero zip zilch zinnias or cosmos this year!
It's too bad it's only in 1 little section of the yard. I have 2 pots of zinnias that I had to do in pots since I used Preen before I remembered I had seeds to plant.(duh)
My impatiens are still doing wonderful
claypa,
I have a question for you---as you seem to be the down-to-Earth kind of a guy re gardening.....
Every year--when all the leaves fall--I rake my leaves at least 3 times in the Fall . Now--mind you--I have a rather small back yard and have 2 HUGE Maples in it. So--when all the leaves come falling down--at different times--I rake and rake. I use my vacuum/shreader to suck up all the raked leaves and then bag them in black plastic garbage bags and put them under my back yard,s big evergreens for the next year. The following year, or two, they are all semi-composted and I use them to incorporate in the beds the following Spring. I AM a recycler!!!!!!
My question is--------------
All the leaves that fall on my flower beds (and i DO just have flower beds and NOT any random planting areas) ---should I rake them all up to put my beds to "sleep" in as clean a shape as I can------OR----should I leave them on the beds as a semi-mulch cover:?????
I DO hate the messy look!
I have always wanted to do all the clean-up in the Fall so I don't have to waste the time in the Spring to do it--but would it serve a better purpose to leave the leaves, un-raked, on top of all my beds????? Bugs? Diseases???
I have always been under the impression that beds need to be "put to sleep" in as cleaned-up a state as you can manage.
What is YOUR opinion on this, claypa???????
Thanks, Gita
All I can tell you is what I do, and I don't know if it's right or not - but bulbs are my favorite, so I clean the beds as best as I can and plant whatever more bulbs I can squeeze in (and afford). All the leaves are cleared away, bulbs planted, and then just wait until it gets cold, as in below freezing high temperatures. THEN I mulch. Out front, I use pine bark mulch, the smaller size, not the big "nuggets".
The idea is to let the bulbs get cold and stay that way until spring. You know how we can get a week of 60 degrees in January, then back to freezing, etc... I don't want the bulbs to get confused and come up and get frozen. Even if they might take it, they probably last longer if they don't come up too early.
My yard is probably smaller than yours, and I don't have much room for a compost bin/pile anymore. I planted over where it used to be. So I pile up leaves and whatever else behind my neighbor's shed. But I'll probably bring home trash bags of leaves from my brother's yard which is all very tall beeches and oaks, mow them up and spread them around out back where no neighbors can really see it very well. There's a big circle where the maple was where nothing has been growing for a long time, and I will turn every inch of the backyard into flowers and shrubs. Then I can mow the lawn in 5 minutes or so! So I'm not going to worry about what that looks like, the more leaves, the better
You make a good point about pests and diseases, but I wonder if any tree's leaves would harbor problems for garden plants... I doubt it. But every sickly hollyhock leaf goes, stuff like that - I try to keep up with that as I weed.
I remember your post about mulching in another forum, I'll try to find it. Also Hart has said things about this in the past that made me rethink certain things I was doing. I think also Baa, (who used to be an administrator here at Dave's) had things to say about it too. I guess in Europe they don't just go to the store and get pine bark, they use leaves.
Eupatorium - this stuff is everywhere this year, roadsides, fields, popping up in people's yards... My 'Chocolate ' has pretty much gone by already.
Gita, All summer I have been seeing photos of people's gardens with leaves in the beds and gorgeous flowers. I've tried to post or write to every person whenever I see this. Almost every one of these folks tells me they never rake and also don't grind the leaves. They take a "let the chips fall where they may" attitude toward bed care. The more I've thought about it, the more sense it makes. How can we improve on Mother nature? Particularly for the shade gardener? Most of these folks grow spectacular hardy plants.
Thanks all----
I suppose to me it is more of an 'anal" thing----to have everything cleaned up before I let it all go to "sleep".
M
Stormyla, I think we drive our neighbors crazy by never raking out our beds! Besides the benefits of them decomposing and adding good organic matter to the soil, I was told butterflies lay eggs on leaves and if you rake away the leaves you rake away some of next seasons butterflies.
We have a lot of things blooming now, especially since the weather has been so nice and mild.
Some petunias are making a revival, zinnias, nasturtiums, cannas, four-o'clocks, salvias, coleus and cosmos are still blooming, some sporadic feverfew and foxgloves. We have buds getting ready to open on pineapple sage. I'll try and take a few dahlia photos, they are really the best and most beautiful now.
This was our first year growing tithonia from seed, they are still blooming away!
wind--
Then weather IS gorgeous! I have been able to plug away at cleaning up my beds. Still a lot to go.
I am getting a lot of motivation here to NOT rake my beds clean of leaves! It is just that in Spring, there is so much else to do--that raking/digging in leaves takes so much time and effort.
Question----I think I know the answer......And--I think i will do this!
What if I raked all the leaves out of my beds, cleaned up whatever remains to be cleaned, and did the vacuum/shred and then put them back on the beds??? They would, probably decompose a lot sooner--NO? Just trying to help nature along....
As it is, I put all the shredded leaves in black plastic bags. Add a bit of water a hand full of Lime and tie it shut and put them under my evergreens at the back of the yard. Such lovely stuff the following year!!! Hmmm--Hmmm! I use it to mulch.
82 degrees today! Eat your heart out!
Gita
That sounds like a lot of work Gita but they would decompose a lot faster.
Gita, my neighbor who is a master gardener does that, her son shreds the leaves with their lawn mower for her and she mulches all her flower and veggie beds.
OMG...I'm foaming at the mouth...mercy everyone what gorgeous blooms!!! Sorry for being MIA...have been sick with the creeping crud since coming home and am starting, just now, to feel semi human. Hopefully can post some limited pics soon...mean while enjoying everyone's beauties!!! Keep em coming!!! Love the Brugs Gita and Debbie!!! They became my new obsession this summer and were in bloom when I got home....sooo pretty and the fragrance is simply YUMMY!! Gita what is the scent like on yours? Someone's sending me a Butterfly - I've heard her scent is amazing!!!
Awww, Chantell so sorry you have been sick since you got home, must have picked up something on the airplane, close quarters you know. Last time I flew my friend and I loaded up on a vitamin drink like Airborne about 10 days before we took off. She catches everything just by looking at her, don't even have to sneeze in her direction. She stayed healthy that trip.
Can't wait to see your pictures.
Chantelle,
Haven't seen you around! How was your vacation?
It is hard to describe a scent.......It is sweet...but better than any perfume....only comes out in the evening. They all have something a bit different about them...
Get yourself a Dr. Seuss! That is the most fragrant one I have ever owned....
If you have room in your basement.....come on over! I'll give you a whole plant! And--you can have cuttings from my Peaches and Cream! It is getting close to cold and I do not know what to do with the big plants themselves....!
Gita
Glad your feeling better, Chantell.
Ya'll are so sweet...wasn't whining, I promise...just didn't want anyone to think I'd forgotten about giving the the update on visit with grandma.
Gita - RJ actually sent me a good sized rooted Dr. Seuss...I'm in absolute agreement...Seuss' scent is amazing...also love Charles G.!!! I'm "trying" to limit myself to the ones most fragrant - leaning more toward the spicier scents. I'm in awe of the growth they put on in such a short period of time!!!
Talk about growth!!!! Wanna see my Peaches and Cream? I may have put to much Dynamite fertilizer in the soil, as it grew a HUGE amount of HUGE leaves--and hardly any flowers.
Just like in Tomatoes.....You fertilize them too much and you get a lot of leaves at the price of the fruit.
Lookie....
Holy Moly Gita!!!! Whew, and to think I was happy with MY growth....YOU win, hands down!!! Beautiful variegation on those leaves....very pretty!!
Relative to the leaf mulching, I've been thinking that I'm not going to rake the beds at all. Invariably a lot of my markers end up in a pile and some young plants get ruined. I've added so many evergreen plants to the beds that raking between them would be very time consuming and many would get damaged. Also, there are now almost 150 plants in wire cages that stick up 2 to 4" above ground and numerous above grown cages to protect young shrubs and insulators for all of the Hydrangea. I also like to leave some drying perennial flowers in the beds for winter interest.
I'm planning on shredding the leaves from the grass as well as the gigantic piles that my neighbors blow into the street to use as mulch in all of my beds except the shrub beds in the front of the house. For appearance's sake I may buy new mulch for those beds next year.It will be a relief not to have that hugh mulch bill.
Wind, do you buy any mulch?
Let's see...here's Xena
And CG - the scent is incredible!!!
Miami Rose STILL going strong
Double Tuberose...filling the air with its perfumed scent
Just wanted to make sure all the talented MidAtlantic photographers had noticed... it's DG photo contest time! Get those gorgeous photos entered! :-)
Jill, I think Gita should enter her coleus leaf sunburst picture. I'd vote for that!
Yes! I love the "simple marigold" photo Sally posted on this thread, also. And Chantell... that lady has a real talent for macro bloom shots!
Hey--my marigold was a cheap imitation inpsired by claypa taking a closeup of his.
Chantell or Bec gotta 'represent' us --if only there was a macro category.
No macro???? OMG...someone needs to talk to Dave about that!! Becky's gone off to visit her family in far away places but DID take her computer with her. Say prayers for DH as he's in charge of plants while she's away...I may have to bring him some anti-anxiety by the time she comes home though...LOL
beautiful photos, Chantell!
Ahh Stormy - thank you for your kind words but those pics of there were a quick..."drive by" on my way out the door to work...LOL
